"If you thought you were seeing more riders during your daily public transit trips,
it’s not your imagination" says the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
In a 12 March media release, APTA announced that Americans took 10.1 billion
trips on local public transportation in 2006 – a level not seen in 49 years.
Over the last decade, says the organization, the growth rate of urban public
transportation outpaced that of both the nation's population and the total of vehicle miles traveled on America’s highways.

Once again, light rail transit (LRT) – including modern streetcars,
interurban or semi-metro-type trolleys, and heritage streetcars – had the
highest percentage increase among all modes, with a 5.6 percent ridership growth rate in 2006.
Indeed, reports APTA, some light rail systems showed double-digit increases in ridership – such as San Jose, with a whopping 36.6%.
Some of the top performers included:

"This significant ridership milestone is part of a multi-year trend as more and
more Americans ride public transit to get to destinations important to them, while
realizing the benefits of saving money and avoiding congestion" said APTA president William W. Millar.
"Public transit ridership helps reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and
decreases our contribution to global warming; but ultimately, this milestone
represents 10 billion reasons to increase local and federal investment in public transportation."

US public transit soaring

According to APTA, public transit use overall is up 30 percent since 1995.

That is more than double the growth rate of the population (12 percent) and
higher than the growth rate for the vehicle miles traveled on our roads (24 percent) during that same period. in 2006, public transit ridership grew 2.9 percent over 2005.
To put the 10.1 billion public transportation trips in perspective, transit trips outnumber domestic airline trips by 15 to one.

"Public transportation is a proven way to meet our nation’s goals" said Millar.
"As Congress looks to find ways to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil
and reduce emissions causing global warming, we call on them to increase
investment and include incentives to encourage further use of public transportation."

The complete APTA ridership report can be viewed at the following website: